Alterations in the timbre of speech. When the larynx is affected by cancer, it will obviously change the pitch and timbre of your voice. This is because the voice-box and the vocal cords together are what actually create the sound of your voice. As the dimensions of the throat change, and as the tumor perhaps puts pressure on the voice-box or on the vocal cords themselves, the sound of your voice is obviously going to change as well. Think of your throat and voice-box as a sort of wind instrument. As the dimensions of the instrument change, so also does the sound of the instrument.
A large swelling in the neck. A lump in the neck might be the tumor itself, though this is rare. More commonly, cancer in the body causes the body’s immune response to a trigger, and this causes the lymph nodes in the neck, which are sites of the immune response, to grow larger. The lymph nodes may also become a site for inflammation. If the enlargement of the lymph nodes is caused by a minor respiratory disease, the lymph nodes will soon return to their usual dimensions as the infection passes. In the case of cancer, they will remain enlarged. Note that the lymph nodes may not enlarge even if a cancer is present.
Feeling that something is constricting the throat passages. A person suffering from throat cancer is often oppressed by the constant feeling that they have a foreign object lodged in their throat and may develop a chronic habit of clearing their throat. It is crucial to pay attention to a symptom of this sort, as it is an early warning of a possible throat cancer. If you have any of the associated symptoms of throat cancer, you should immediately see a physician.